Kyowa-go

Kyowa-go (協和語, Kyōwa-go, "Commonwealth language" or "Concordia language") or Xieheyu (Chinese: 協和語/协和语; lit. 'Harmony language') is either of two pidginized languages, one Japanese-based and one Mandarin-based, that were spoken in Manchukuo in the 1930s and 1940s. They are also known as Kōa-go (興亞語, "Asia development language"), Nichiman-go (日滿語, "Japanese-Manchu language"), and Daitōa-go (大東亞語, "Greater East Asia language").

Harmony language in Manchukuo
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	協和語
Simplified Chinese	协和语
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiéhé Yǔ
Japanese name
Hiragana	きょうわご こうあご にちまんご だいとうあご
Katakana	キョウワゴ コウアゴ ニチマンゴ ダイトウアゴ
Kyūjitai	協和語 興亞語 日滿語 大東亞語
Shinjitai	協和語 興亜語 日満語 大東亜語
Transcriptions Romanization Kyōwa-go Kōa-go Nichiman-go Daitōa-go

1937 newspaper advertisement featuring Kyōwa-go

Description

The term Kyowa-go/Xieheyu is derived from the Manchukuo state motto "Concord of Nationalities" (民族協和 mínzú xiéhe) promoted by the Pan-Asian Movement. The pidgin language resulted from the need of Japanese officials and soldiers and the Han and Manchu population that spoke mainly Chinese to communicate with each other. Manchukuo officials later dubbed the pidgin language "Kyowa-go" or "Xieheyu", meaning "Concord language". However, the Japanese also wanted to implement their own language in Manchukuo, saying that Japanese is a language which has a soul, so the language must be spoken correctly.

Kyowa-go/Xieheyu died out when Manchukuo fell to the Soviet Red Army in the last days of World War II. Documentation of the pidgin language is rare today.

It was also believed that many of the expressions of Chinese characters in manga (e.g. aru) are derived from Japanese-based Kyowa-go. Hence, it is typical of Chinese characters in anime shows to speak in that manner.

It was also believed that many of the expressions of Japanese characters in movies set in the Second Sino-Japanese War (e.g. 悄悄地進村，打槍的不要) are derived from Mandarin-based Xieheyu. Hence, it is typical of Japanese characters in movies shows to speak in that manner.

The Japanese were also known to use pidgin languages in Japan itself during the 19th and 20th centuries like Yokohama Pidgin Japanese.

Examples of Japanese-based Kyowa-go

Kyowa-go
協和語
Region	Manchukuo
Extinct	c. 1945
Language family	Japanese-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	None

Kyowa-go is characterized by a particle aru, omission of some particles, and many loan-words from Mandarin.

a)

私

Watashi

日本人

nipponjin

アル

aru

ヨ

yo

私 日本人 アル ヨ

Watashi nipponjin aru yo

Original Japanese: 私は日本人です Watashi wa nipponjin desu meaning "I am a Japanese".

b)

姑(クー)娘(ニャン)

Kūnyan (gūnyan)

綺麗

kirei

アル

aru

ネ

ne

姑(クー)娘(ニャン) 綺麗 アル ネ

{Kūnyan (gūnyan)} kirei aru ne

Original Japanese: お孃さんは綺麗ですね Ojōsan wa kirei desu ne meaning "Isn't your daughter beautiful"

c)

貴方

Anata

座る

suwaru

の

no

椅子

isu

ない

nai

アル

aru

ヨ

yo

貴方 座る の 椅子 ない アル ヨ

Anata suwaru no isu nai aru yo

Original Japanese: 貴方が座る椅子はありません Anata ga suwaru isu wa arimasen meaning "There is no chair for you"

d)

アイヤー（哎呀）

Aiyaa!

アイヤー（哎呀）

Aiyaa!

Exclamation of surprise from Chinese.

Examples of Mandarin-based Xieheyu

Xiehe-yu
協和語
Region	Manchukuo
Extinct	c. 1945
Language family	Mandarin-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	None

Xieheyu sometimes uses subject–object–verb, the normal Japanese word order, which is different from Mandarin.

a)

你的

nǐde

幫我，

bāngwǒ,

我的

wǒde

錢的

qiánde

大大的

dàdàde

給。

gěi.

你的 幫我， 我的 錢的 大大的 給。

nǐde bāngwǒ, wǒde qiánde dàdàde gěi.

Original Mandarin Chinese:

你

nǐ

幫我，

bāngwǒ,

我

wǒ

給你

gěinǐ

很多

hěnduō

錢。

qián.

你 幫我， 我 給你 很多 錢。

nǐ bāngwǒ, wǒ gěinǐ hěnduō qián.

If you help me, I'll give you a lot of money.

b)

高橋

Gāoqiáo

歐庫桑，

okusan,

豬的

zhūde

看見

kànjiàn

沒有？

méiyǒu?

那邊的

nàbiānde

跑了的

pǎolede

有。

yǒu.

 

(歐庫桑 , pronounced okusan , is a phonetic translation of Japanese 奥さん, which means "one's wife")

高橋 歐庫桑， 豬的 看見 沒有？ 那邊的 跑了的 有。

Gāoqiáo okusan, zhūde kànjiàn méiyǒu? nàbiānde pǎolede yǒu.

Original Mandarin Chinese:

高橋

Gāoqiáo

太太，

tàitai,

看見

kànjiàn

那隻

nàzhī

豬

zhū

了

le

嗎？

mā?

已經

yǐjīng

跑到

pǎodaò

那邊

nàbiān

去啦。

qùla.

高橋 太太， 看見 那隻 豬 了 嗎？ 已經 跑到 那邊 去啦。

Gāoqiáo tàitai, kànjiàn nàzhī zhū le mā? yǐjīng pǎodaò nàbiān qùla.

Mrs. Takahashi, did you see that pig? It ran that way.

See also

• Creole language
• Empire of Japan
• Pseudo-Chinese

References

• Kinsui, Satoshi (2014). コレモニホンゴアルカ: イジンノコトバガウマレルトキ (in Japanese). Tokyo. ISBN 978-4-00-028630-5. OCLC 891024991.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Hachiya, Masato; Kinsui, Satoshi; Okajima, Akihiro; Okazaki, Tomoko (2004). "Predicate type observed in the literature and the inconsistency with the history of Japanese" 文献に現れた述語形式と国語史の不整合性について (in Japanese).
• Homoco, ed. (1953) [1879]. Exercises in the Yokohama Dialect (2nd ed.). Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN 9781178301533. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
• Gong, Xue; Shang, Xia (2013-08-06). "The Recognition of Harmony Language under the Perspective of Colonialism Culture" 殖民文化视角下的"协和语"认识. Japanese Studies Forum 外国问题研究 (in Chinese) (2): 3–9. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-6201.2013.02.001. Archived from the original on 2013-11-14. Retrieved 2022-07-27.